Neh 4:5 | NETfull | STEP | Do not cover their iniquity, and do not wipe out their sin from before them. For they have bitterly offended the builders!

Nehemiah 4:5

5 Do not cover their iniquity, and do not wipe out their sin from before them. For they have bitterly offended ^{▼▼ The Hiphil stem of כָּעַס (ka’as) may mean: (1) “to provoke to anger”; (2) “to bitterly offend”; or (3) “to grieve” (BDB 495 s.v. Hiph.; HALOT 491 s.v. כעס hif). The Hebrew lexicons suggest that “bitterly offend” is the most appropriate nuance here.} the builders! ^{▼▼ Heb “before the builders.” The preposition נֶגֶד (neged, “before”) here connotes “in the sight of” or “in the view of” (BDB 617 s.v. 1.a; HALOT 666 s.v. 1.a).}